Commitment to one another,
and to our God,
is the only way we can survive. – ME
Christians in America, and around the world, have a mistaken impression of the Gospel. Through both false teachers, and well intended leaders, we have come to believe that faith in Jesus Christ guarantees a pain free life. In a culture that has a medication for everything that ails, we have come to see Jesus as the Divine-Aspirin that relieves all suffering. In a society of affluence, we have come to see Jesus as the Heavenly-Piggy-Bank who promises material prosperity. As a result, people who suffer question the purpose of their life and the veracity of their faith. People in financial turmoil doubt their own worth to God.
Matthew 24:9-13 [Jesus tells His disciples] “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved.
Difficulties then should not cause us to doubt the love of Christ. Rather, we should embrace suffering and let it work to produce a deeper contentment in Jesus.
James 1:2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:12 “Blessed are those who persevere under trial, because when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”
BUT… let me hasten to add that life on earth was not given by our Father as some deranged Sisyphean Task* of hopeless labor. The committed leader stands firm because he knows that suffering will not last forever. The committed leader stands firm because she knows that suffering is not without its purpose.
——-* Sisy what? Okay, I realize the reference to Greek mythology is obscure to most folks. The “Sisyphean Task is summarized by Wikipedia as follows….
Sisyphus was son of the king Aeolus of Thessaly and Enarete, and the founder and first king of Ephyra (Corinth)….As a punishment from the gods for his trickery, Sisyphus was compelled to roll a huge rock up a steep hill, but before he could reach the top of the hill, the rock would always roll back down again, forcing him to begin again. The maddening nature of the punishment was reserved for Sisyphus due to his hubristic belief that his cleverness surpassed that of Zeus.
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